February 10, 2014

On May 16, 2014, the Newseum, in partnership with the Smithsonian Institution, will open "One Nation With News for All," a new exhibit designed to tell the story of how immigrants and minorities used the power of the press to fight for their rights and shape the American experience.

"News for All" will display rarely seen historic newspapers including

El Misisipi, the earliest known Spanish-language newspaper in the United States, founded in New Orleans in 1808;

Freedom's Journal, the first black newspaper, launched in 1827 to fight for equal rights and demand an end to slavery;

the Cherokee Phoenix, the first Native American newspaper, published in 1828 to champion the rights of Indians;

and the Chinese-language Golden Hills' News, the first Asian American newspaper, launched in 1854 to help Chinese immigrants who came to seek their fortunes in the California gold rush.

The exhibit will also tell the stories of crusading journalists who fought to dispel stereotypes and tell the stories of their communities. Video productions in the exhibit will explore the role ethnic media play in major news events. An interactive component of the exhibit will encourage visitors to explore ethnic media throughout the country, from inception to the present.

"News for All" will be on display at the Newseum through January 4, 2015. more

March 7, 2012

PayPal has been getting some (IMHO well deserved) flack recently for leaning on publishers of erotica to clean up their act. Just how PayPal wormed its way into this mess is a bit murky--but more murky is why the company is just now getting upset about it. The Wall Street Journal presents a nice summary of the current situation, click here to read it.

We all know Apple does not allow nudity or erotica in materials consumed via its technology. I guess that is fair--after all, it is their printing press (uh, digital delivery platform), but even that makes me a little edgy when it comes to thinking about the freedom of the press down the line.

If the companies that provide the delivery platform and the companies that process the payments object to certain types of content, that makes me nervous about the rights of liberty. And don't tell yourself it is okay not to worry because they are just talking about the publishers of erotica. As Pastor Martin Niemöller expressed it in his well-known poem:

When the Nazis came for the communists, I remained silent; I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats, I remained silent; I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists, I did not speak out; I was not a trade unionist.